Wisdom and War Collide
by SkylarRocaineDaughterofHermes
Summary: Natalie and Debbie go on a quest to rescue the two gods of war. Lets see how this turns out. Co authored by AshlynChengDaughterOfPoseido n. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Heyzzzz! I'm back :D So this is the new story! Its co authored by… the one… the only… xPandahhExpress :D so yea… read!**

Debbie POV

Today wasn't the best day ever. We had our Latin final and I was sure I was going to fail.

The only good part was that I got to hang out with my best friend, Natalie, after it was all over. How to describe Natalie? Hmm. She was really pretty, with her blonde hair and stormy gray eyes. And she was a genius, but laid back all the same. But she could also be crazy.

Natalie always cheered me up, but today she couldn't. I was transferring schools. Again. It meant I had to leave her. And I couldn't even see her over summer because she went to summer camp. When I asked her what it was called, she got all distant and changed the subject. Plus, since I had ADHD and dyslexia, I was going to get straight F's on my report card, starting with Latin.

I really didn't understand the point of Latin class anyways. My, teacher, Miss Lavina, hated me. She would always snarl at me and complain that the titans should have won the war against the gods, when it clearly said in our mythology book that the gods overpowered the gods long ago. I mean, what was her problem? Why did it even matter? It was mythology, meaning that it wasn't real.

Miss Lavina started passing out the tests and as soon as I looked at the page, words started floating off the page and rearranging themselves. I looked over at Natalie, who was also struggling. She was also diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia like me. But she still managed to get A's. She always told me that there was a voice in her head telling her the answers.

To make it look like I was actually doing the test, I started drawing flowers all over the papers and filling in the bubbles randomly. I turned it in and Miss Lavina glared at me. She grabbed her stamp that was lableled, "Especially for Debbie", and stomped my paper with a giant F. She didn't even look at my answers. I sighed and walked out of the class without asking. I went to the bathroom and sobbed into my short pink dress. My bright pink hair extensions in my midnight black hair matched my dress, which was now wet.

My mother was going to kill me so badly. I even had scars from her little _lessons_. She was the most evil mother from the earth to the moon. She scolded me for anything and everything, and also hurt me if I got anything less than a B- on my report card.

I couldn't believe my dad ever fell in love with her. Or… whoever my dad was. Who would love a violent woman like that? He abandoned me at birth, but I totally bet he was nicer than my mother. She was a wicked lady. She didn't even buy me food or clothes. I had to find my own money and feed myself.

I went back to the classroom and sat down. Natalie looked at me worried. She mouthed, "Are you okay?" I didn't respond.

The bell rang through my ears and everyone turned in their tests.

"Darling, Miss Aloia," Miss Lavina called, giving me her crooked smile. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Natalie waiting for me giving wary glances to Miss Lavina.

"I have to go Miss Lavina." I said quickly. I turned to sprint away when she grabbed my arm. Her face started to deform and she grew wings and the body of a lion.

"A griffin!" Natalie shouted.

I started to panic. Griffins weren't real, right? What was going on?

I couldn't answer any of those questions because the griffin lunged right at me.

**AN: Sorry its short, and I'll try to update soon! Love ya!**

**Nessa**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I. Am. Back! :D Happy 10****th**** of July! So enjoy the new chappy! See ya at the bottom :)**

Natalie POV

Oh my gods! A griffin! That meant my suspicions were correct. Debbie was the demigod I was looking for. See, ever since the titan war, satyrs had been going overboard looking for new demigods, so some of the campers had to go out and help them. They had sensed one in this school, so they sent me.

I was a year-rounder at camp. My dad had disowned me from a young age; he couldn't deal with the monsters. I spent my life running away from foster homes and obviously, monsters. Athena had taken care of me indirectly. When I was seven, a satyr found me and took me to camp. It had been my home ever since.

I was one of the more experienced campers, so they sent me to bring the demigod back to camp. It was lucky that my best friend ended up being the one I was looking for. Could you imagine telling one of the populars that they were a demigod? Not to mention getting them to stop making fun of you for a second to actually _listen_.

So anyways, the griffin lunged at Debbie. She was the only one at the school who talked to me, and vice versa. She had curly black hair that went down to her shoulders and it had hot pink highlights in it. She had crystal blue eyes that were very intimidating, until you got to know her. Then you would know that she was really sweet. She hated fighting, but she could definitely defend herself if she needed to. But in this case, I understand. The whole school bully concept isn't really the same as monsters wanting to kill you…

I got out my dagger and attacked the griffin. It roared and slashed its claws across my face. Damn! That hurt! My emotions swirled until they landed on one in particular, rage. I ran forward and crouched. As the griffin was about to bend down to get me, I did a front flip onto its back and hooked my dagger around its neck. It stood up and roared in outrage. I used the leverage to jump off and slide under it, stabbing it in the stomach and sliding out before it exploded all over me.

I looked over at Debbie. She was standing there in shock. I listened for the police sirens. Shit, they sounded close. This wasn't good.

I grabbed her arm, "Come on! We have to get out of here." We jumped out the window, momentary forgetting it was on the second floor. We landed in the bushes and made a run for it. I lead us into an alley and looked inside my backpack for something. I finally found it.

"Stêthi, Ô hárma diabolês!" _Stop, chariot of damnation!_ I threw the drachma into the street and it sank through. The asphalt became bubbly, and a car emerged from it. It was a taxi, but it was gray and smoky, like you could walk through it.

Debbie looked like she was going to pass out. "W-where are w-we g-going?"

"Deb, I'm so sorry but I'll explain once we get there. We have to hurry. We aren't safe here."

She gulped then slowly nodded. We got into the car. I had to hand it to her; she was brave. Not many people would just take this all in as well as she did. There was no kicking or screaming or I'm-gonna-take-you-to-a-mental-institution-ing.

"Camp Half-Blood." I said. And they took off.

Now if you've never rode in the Gray Sisters taxi, I would not recommend it. They only have one tooth and one eyeball, and well… they fight over it like there's no tomorrow. Which if you die and go to the Underworld, there isn't. Still, we made it to camp without _that many_ bruises and ran up the hill.

More and more campers were arriving each day. It was June, the start of the summer session. In just about 2-3 weeks, the new Great Prophecy would come true and demigods would have to fight against Gaea for the sake of the world, just like last summer when we fought Kronos.

It would have been easier to do that if the gods would help us. But the gods had decided to go silent. We hadn't heard from them in months. Except for Hera. She had this whole plan to switch Percy Jackson with another person, Jason Grace. There was apparently a Roman camp and whatnot. More of that later though.

Debbie and I made it to Thalia's pine tree and stopped to catch our breath. My face still hurt where the griffin scratched it. Campers started running to us and asking questions. "What happened?" "Are you okay?" "Is something after you?"

"We're okay, can you just put these in the Athena cabin?" I gave someone our bags, making sure that they weren't a Hermes child first.

We started going to the infirmary. I was giving Debbie an explanation for everything that was happening: the gods, demigods, Western Civilization, and last… Kronos. If she had the eyes and hair, she could've been an Athena child; she was taking everything really well.

Finally she spoke. "So dad was a god?"

"Yep. I know it's a lot to process, but it'll start making sense once you get into the swing of things here."

"Cool." She didn't seem fazed by the kids running around us wielding swords and armor. She actually thought it was cool. She may not have liked bullies and that type of fighting, but she liked this type of stuff.

We got to the infirmary and they Apollo kids there started their process. They checked us over for any major wounds, which we didn't have any, and then gave us some ambrosia. Debbie didn't really need too much, just a little to heal her from jumping out of the second floor window, and of course, the Gray Sisters' taxi. I needed a little bit more, because of my face.

They let us go and I decided to give her a tour, despite the fact I was covered in monster dust and probably looked terrible.

Connor ran up to us. "Woah, what happened? Are you okay?"

You know, maybe I should have showered first… The reason? Connor. Stoll. He was one of my best friends, even if my cabin never approved of it. That was because he was a son of Hermes, a pranking trouble maker, and I was a daughter of Athena, a collected braniac. Pretty much opposites. We were _supposed_ to get along as well as Nico did with the Demeter cabin. But we ended up being friends.

I wasn't your typical daughter of Athena. Sure, I was a super genius, but I also was chilled out and calm. I didn't mind pranks as much as the others, although sometimes they were annoying, like when my bed was filled with toy plastic spider rings. I was still pissed, even after I found out they were fake.

I blushed. "Yea, we're fine. Just a griffin attack. This is Debbie by the way."

He nodded to her. "Good. Wouldn't want Nattie to get hurt." He smiled.

But I just glared. "Don't call me that."

His smile only grew bigger. "Okay. See ya Nattie! Bye Debbie!"

"Bye." Debbie said back. I just glared as he ran away.

"Sooo… sounds like you have a little crush on him." Said Debbie.

My jaw dropped. "Excuse me? No! Ew!"

"Sureee. Whatever you say…" She replied, smirking.

I glared at her, then burst out laughing. "Come on. Let's finish the tour."

"After you… Nattie." She teased. I rolled my eyes and showed her the rest of camp.

**AN: Yay! Chapter 2 is done! :) K so if anyone is confuzled bout Nattie, it does ****not**** rhyme with Katie. Figure the rest out yourselves :D Love ya!**

**Nessa**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I am SO sorry! Hopefully this makes up for the long wait! I've just been really busy cus I'm on vaca and then I was focusing a lot on writing Stealing the Sun's Heart...**

**Disclaimer: Once upon a time. There was a girl that didn't own PJO or HoO. I am that girl. The End.**

Debbie's POV

I kept on processing the information in my head. My dad was a god; I was a demigod aka half blood. There were more people like me. I'm not alone. But no matter how many times I said it, I was still shocked.

Natalie turned to me. "I'm so glad that you're still calm about this. It's sometimes hard to explain to people because they usually get frustrated, upset, or terrified." She smiled.

I asked, "Where will I be staying?"

"You'll be staying in the Hermes cabin untill you're claimed." she replied. I must've looked puzzled, because then she explained, "To be claimed is to have your parent claim you as their child. When you're claimed, the symbol of your parent appears over your head, and if you aren't claimed yet, you stay in the Hermes cabin."

She took me over there and told Connor I would be staying there for the time being. I smirked. She so liked him. The sun was already down and it was night time before you knew it. I set down my stuff near an unoccupied bed and rested my head. Soon, I fell asleep.

I was in a tight room, panicking. I'm claustrophobic in case you didn't know. I breathed heavily and started pouting.

"Help!" I screamed. But my voice was muffled. A voice boomed in the area.

"Welcome, darling," said a drowsy voice. "I am Hypnos, God of Sleep. I'm here to restore your fathers strength with your, best friend mother's strength. You shall obey my-"

I interrupted the god quickly, "Who's my father? Where is he? Why am I here?" I said through my muffled voice.

"SILENCE!" he boomed again. "You shall not interrupt me again, daughter of-"

I woke up panting, sweat drowning myself. A camper was shaking me awake.

"Time for breakfast!" he said.

I rose from my bed and took a shower. I changed into a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt with denim shorts. The shirt was a little bit too long so I got a rubber band and tied it in the back and sprinted outside.

I caught up with Natalie quickly as she was walking out of her cabin. "Hey uhm, Natalie?" I said.

"Yeah Debbie?"

I explained my dream to her. She looked stressed, trying to solve what was happening.

"Maybe we should go tell Chiron." she said.

I looked at her uncertainly. "Or we could just keep it a secret for now, untill another clue comes along."

She didn't look certain at first, but I finally persuaded her.

After we were done eating at the dining pavilion, we wentto pick out which weapon I'm good with. I picked up a bow and went to the practicing area. I launched the arrow, which almost hit somebody's head. I yelled sorry to them and quickly hurried back to the weapon table and quickly chose a sterling sword. It looked like a crystal blue transparent sword. It felt perfect in my hand, not too heavy and not too light. It was easy enough to swing.

"You know I don't agree on fighting unless absolutely necessary," I said looking upset.

"Yes I know. You just have to be prepared to fight monsters and we have to train you."

I nodded glumly. After reading the weapon, it was called κρύσταλλο, which meant Crystal. Natalie told me earlier that my brain was hard wired for Greek. I still thought that that was weird. I ruffled my pink dress, and quickly, three buff, ugly, tall girls walked towards me.

"No, Clarisse, you don't have to do this." said Natalie.

"By the looks of you scrawny pink girl, your a daughter of Aphrodite that I've never seen around here. Time to give you my special surprise I do to every noob at this camp."

Her two buff girls both grabbed me by the arms and hauled me into the bathrooms. There was a small toilet, with gross stuff everywhere. Clarisse grabbed me by the neck and shoved my head in. I screamed when she took me out. Campers gathered around.

She let go of me and grunted. Just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder, she bowed down to me. I didn't know what was going on. I followed their eyes and noticed that they were looking above me. Chiron galloped near. I looked above my head, and a bloody spear with a shield hovered above me.

Everyone boomed, "All hail Debbie Aloia, Daughter of Ares."

**AN: Ok, I know its short but I'll update soon. See ya next time! and if anyone was wondering I am Natalie and my fabulous co author is Debbie :) Love ya!**

**~Nessa**


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Here it is :) Sorry for the wait.

Disclaimer: Dont own it.

Natalie POV

My mouth dropped. Debbie was a daughter of Ares. To be honest, it kind of shocked me. I was expecting it to be anyone but him. She didn't have the build of a typical Ares camper, and she was _way_ too nice. Plus she hated fighting.

Well I guess miracles do happen. I mean, I'm a demigod. 'Nough said.

She had just gotten the special "welcome" that Clarisse gave to all the new campers.

I sheathed my dagger, Mania, which meant fury, and ran over to help her.

"What are you lookin at?" She yelled. All the campers quickly dispersed. She rolled her eyes.

"Hey you okay?" I asked her.

"Yea, I guess. I don't know what's with me... I just feel a little more pissed off at everything now."

"That's just the effect of being claimed by the god of war. It'll wear off soon."

"Good. I don't like feeling this way."

I smiled at her. She was so nice and sweet. Now she'd have to live with Clarisse and her siblings. Oh gods, I couldn't imagine that. How would they treat her?

"Let's go get you cleaned up."

I took her to the Ares cabin. We walked straight through the land mines and entered the cabin. One of Debbie's half brothers was exiting the cabin and he gave us a partially impressed, partially shocked look before running towards the arena. I guess it was because we didn't get blown up. If you weren't an Ares camper, you could never get through the mines without being blown up. As a daughter of Athena, I knew where to avoid.

I followed Debbie to her bed and gave her some clothes from her backpack, which I'd grabbed on the way here.

She went to go shower and I sat on her new bed looking around. The Ares cabin was nothing like the Athena cabin. In the Athena cabin, all the beds were in one corner of the room and the rest was filled with desks, bookshelves, etc. In the Ares cabin, the beds were spread out like the other cabins, but there were lethal weapons everywhere and suspicious red splatters on the walls. And there was also a... was that a...

SPIDER!

I screamed and ran out of the cabin. I sprinted past the mines and started running to the Athena cabin.

But of course, I happened to run into a certain Stoll on my way there. Literally.

We both fell and we tumbled onto the ground, me on top of him.

"Connor, let's go!," his older brother Travis said, coming out of the Apollo cabin. "They could be back any- oh... um... hey Natalie?" He tried.

I glared at him. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing... um anyways, I see you're busy so I'll see you later!" Then he turned and sprinted away as fast as his legs could take him.

I rolled my eyes and looked back down just to be met with the smirking face of Connor Stoll. I blushed furiously and scrambled up off of him.

He got up and brushed himself off.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

He smiled. "Don't worry about it. I mean, I would act the same way after being deprived of me for so long."

I glared at him. "Yea, you and your ego, which by the way is bigger than Apollo's." The sun shined in my face. I squinted and covered my eyes with my hand. "Come on, you know it's true!" It stopped after that.

He looked shocked. "What are you talking about? I'm modest." He said, putting his hand on his chest.

"Yea, and I'm the Statue of Liberty." I scoffed.

"Well actually, you're the daughter of the Statue of Liberty. You know, Athena? And you know, it's funny that the statue is green. Athena in Poseidon's color." He started going on about how the two gods were opposites, and how opposites attract, like his brother and Katie. Then he looked at me and grinned. He said something I would've thought he would never, ever say in a million years. "Also like you and me."

Now it was my turn to look shocked. "What? You and me? No, that would never work. It's impossible." I said, my face red as a tomato.

"It's also impossible to miss that blush on your face."

I blushed harder. "Whatever puts you to sleep at night."

"Hmm, well actually-"

I cut him off before he could say something that my mother would kill him for. "I gotta go, um... sharpen my dagger."

I turned and sprinted to my cabin before he could make a comment about sons of Hermes and lying.

The cabin was thankfully empty. All my siblings would be at work on the Argo 2. It would set sail in a few days, with four of the heroes from the Great Prophecy. The other three would be at the supposed Roman camp, where Jason Grace was from and where Percy Jackson was supposed to be at currently.

I flopped down on my bed and closed my eyes. Why did Connor have to be so frustrating? I sighed.

"What's wrong?"

My head shot up at the voice of Annabeth. I hit it on the bunk above me and groaned. "Ow. And er, I'm totally fine. Don't worry," I said. She already had enough on her back with Percy being gone.

She hadn't seen Percy in eight months and was freaking out. Did he remember her? What if he got a new girlfriend? What if he isn't there? After realizing that most of my siblings were getting annoyed, she threw herself into her work, not leaving any free time where her thoughts would wander off to Percy. She had gotten visibly skinnier and didn't look like the hardened warrior anymore. Her intimidating stormy gray eyes looked like they were full of sorrow. I don't think the sympathetic looks from the other campers helped either.

She sat next to me on my bed. "Come on, I know something's up. Sometimes, it helps to talk."

I bit my lip. "Well, it's Connor. He's one of my best friends, and I, I just..." I sighed. "I don't know. All I know is the rest of our cabin hates him because he isn't some genius and it's just really frustrating."

She gave me a half smile. "Trust me, I know the feeling. I'm dating a Seaweed Brain, remember?" I cracked a smile at that. "Anyways, if you want my advice, let it play out. Don't force anything to tip one way or another. It may take years, of course, if he's as oblivious as Percy, but he'll notice. And if I'm not mistaken, which I never am, he already has." Then she winked at me and walked out of the cabin.

I gaped at the still air. What? I shook my head and smiled. I'd let it play out, just like she said.

The door opened again, but this time it was Debbie who came in.

"Hey, thanks for ditching me back there." She said with a smile. She was back to normal, no curse- I mean, blessing of Ares.

"Sorry! There was a spider and then I ran into Connor and, and..." I stumbled over my words.

She laughed. "Ok, start from the beginning."

I told her the whole story in record time, including the fast version of the Titan War and the Percy situation. After that, without even knowing, I was telling her about my life. My father had disowned me from a young age, because he didn't wan to deal with the monsters and I had spent my life running from monsters until I found a satyr to bring me to camp when I was 7.

Tears were falling down my face and Debbie was sitting there silently, listening to me cry. I felt grateful that she didn't try to make me feel better, sometimes all someone needed was for somebody to listen, nothing else. I didn't need anything to comfort me.

After I had finished my sob story, I went into the bathroom and washed my face. When I came out, Debbie gave me a hug.

"It's ok. You have a new life now, with people who won't desert you."

I smiled at her then looked at the clock. "Oh, shoot, we missed lunch."

She shrugged. "Eh, the Ares campers wouldn't care if I was eaten by a bear, and Annabeth probably told your cabin you were ok."

"You're right. So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

"I don't care, whatever you want."

For the rest of the day, we did all our activities until the bell rang for dinner.

AN: Sorry it took so long to update. Love ya!

~Nessa


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Okay, this is it :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO :(**

Debbie POV

"Campers!" Chiron's voice boomed. "Tomorrow, wake up early because it's capture the flag!"

Everyone cheered. I looked over at Natalie, and she only winked at me.

"Now I know we usually have it in the night, but this time is an exception. The teams will be constructed, but the main teams are once again Ares and Athena. The current flag holder is Athena, from winning last time. You may construct your teams however you like. That is all." He sat down, and dismissed us all after we were done eating.

I caught up to Nat on the way out. "Hey, so we're playing against each other?" I asked.

Nat replied, "Yep, because those are the usual main teams, but don't worry, just use all the fighting techniques I told you, and you'll be fine." She smiled, and my mind went completely blank. I didn't remember much about the techniques, but they started to come back to me.

I went inside the Ares Cabin, and everyone glared at me.

Clarisse walked up to me, and I could see hatred and embarrassment in her eyes because of me.

"Listen Punk, our team needs that flag back. Those stupid Athena kids took it, and now we're going to get it back. If you mess anything up punk..." her words trailed off. She didn't have to complete her sentence for me to know what she would do to me if I lost this for them.

As she glared at me, I gulped and nodded and ran out of the cabin.

I ran up to Natalie before she could enter her cabin.

I panted, then regained my voice. "Wake up extremely early tomorrow, we need to talk." Then I ran off and went to bed, darkness overcoming me.

After a dreamless night, I woke up and opened the door to my cabin. Natalie was waiting for me.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Remember my dream, with Hypnos? Didn't we say when another clue comes along we'd talk about it? We found out I'm a daughter of Ares…"

Nat looked over at me, and hauled me to her cabin. Everyone else was still sleeping. She went over to one of the bookshelves and took off a book and scrolled through the pages. She quickly paced towards her table, which had a bunch of notes and scrolls all over, scribbled with writing I couldn't read. I looked at her. She sighed and looked at me and her eyes lit up.

She got out a new scroll, and was muttering to herself. She starting drawing lines and connecting them, with drawings of people with names.

She handed me the scroll. I looked at it closely. It was all written in ancient Greek. I could make out a few other words like Ares, Athena, and Hypnos. I focused closely on one part. It said something about combining wisdom and war with hypnotism.

Before I could read more, she took the scroll away and looked at me expectantly.

"I think we might have to show Chiron now," I said.

She nodded in agreement and we rushed to the Big House. I knocked on the door loudly, then hid behind Natalie. I wasn't a very good speaker.

Chiron opened the doors, and laughed. But not in the mean way, a cheerful way.

"When I said get up early for capture the flag, I didn't mean this early."

"Chiron, we have to tell you something very important." Natalie said urgently.

I peeked out from behind her and nodded.

He looked at us and his expression soon became concerned.

Natalie started talking at the speed of light and explaining everything that had happened.

After we were finished, Chiron sighed and looked at us. "And, how do you know this is true?" Chiron asked sternly.

"Dreams," I said. "You know, demigod dreams are dangerous, and true!"

He sighed, and turned around and walked into the Big House.

"I want you two to come with me later. You will have to speak to the oracle, Rachel. You can speak to her after capture the flag. Now ladies, go back to sleep." Chiron stomped his hoofs away. Me and Nat went back to our cabins, and I fell asleep in five seconds, having yet again, another dreamless sleep.

I was awoken by the shrieks of a girl. Must be an Aphrodite daughter looking at her hair in the morning.

Wait. It was coming from inside my cabin. I looked at Clarisse, and noticed her leg was twisted in unusual ways. I winced at the way her joint was, and quickly asked what happened.

"What _happened_ punk? You pushed me off of that bed, and I fell off and broke my leg! _That's_ what happened. Ambrosia can fix the pain, not the bones punk!" Clarisse said.

I started stuttering. "B-b-but I-I-I did n-n-nothing!" I could feel guilt rising in my stomach, but I didn't know why. I was asleep, right?

I looked at the corner of my eye and saw a shadow by Clarisse's bed pass by, then I saw someone run out of the door.

I pursued them quickly, and found Travis sprinting back towards his cabin. I felt like making a huge outburst at him, but then the bell rang. Everyone started to file out, and I immediately caught up with Nat.

"Nat!" I exclaimed. "Travis pushed Clarisse off the bed, I assume it was a prank, but she blamed it on me! What am I supposed to do?"

Nat sighed and patted my back. "Stay calm Deb. The only downside is now you're going to have to lead capture the flag."

I looked at her, stunned. "What?"

"You have to take her place, all the other Ares campers always back out when asked to do it."

I felt worried, what was the plan going to be?

She waved bye and hurried off since it was about to start. Let the games begin.

I quickly improvised a plan to my team, and we all filed out. I waited by the creek alone, because I was actually a wimp to go get the flag or protect it.

After waiting for what felt like hours, even though it was about five minutes, I heard screaming, and then bushes rumbled near the creek. I walked forward a bit, readying my sword. Then I knew it was an ambush.

I was hit in the back with a sharp dagger, and immediately pain filled my body. I collapsed, and two more people appeared in front of me.

"Where's the flag?" I recognized the voice instantly.

Connor.

I shook my head and rolled over, luckily dodging the strike he was about to take. I leg sweeped him as I rolled without me even knowing. The two other people came rushing for me, and I blocked one of them, and the other striked me in my ribs. I winced in pain. Then I heard some major cussing in greek, and a blue flag was running across the field. I kept my mouth shut so I didn't alert Connor, I had to win. Otherwise Clarisse would pulverize me.

Connor's eyes followed where I was looking and sent the two other people to go after my teammates with the flag. He rushes to strike me in the arm, but I rolled over again, into the water and stood up. I tried to jab him quickly but he sidestepped, and slammed the sword out of my hand.

Cheers erupted, and I looked over to see that we won.

Yay, Clarisse wouldn't pulverize me!

I picked up my sword and laid down in the creek for a few seconds, then got up and went to the infirmary to go wipe up my wounds and have some ambrosia.

Natalie soon followed me, and gave me a big hug.

"Your team did it! Good job!" Nat smiled.

I went back outside, then heard screaming. Wait, screaming?

I looked at the forest and noticed people sprinting out, and fire spread through the area. I went over to Chiron and asked what happened.

"We've been ambushed," he said, "by your father."

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! :)**

**~Nessa**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey! So sorry for the wait, but here it is!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

Natalie POV

Now don't get me wrong, I was definitely happy my best friend wouldn't get killed by Clarisse, but I was a daughter of Athena. It was natural for me to feel disappointed that I lost.

Either way, let's go back to earlier.

So Debbie and I had pretty much just walked around and done nothing all day.

At dinner, after eating my food in record time, Chiron had made an announcement about Capture the Flag.

The cabins started cheering. Capture the flag was always fun at camp.

Debbie looked at me, a confused look on her face. I only winked at her, and started discussing our battle strategies with my siblings.

Chiron dismissed us, and everyone started to file out.

Debbie caught up with me and tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, so we're playing against each other?"

"Yep, because those are the usual main teams, but don't worry, just use all the fighting techniques I told you, and you'll be fine." I smiled at her, as she gave me a blank look.

She then ran off to join her cabin.

I turned around to find myself face to face with Connor.

"Hey Nattie." He said.

I refused to give a reaction to that nickname of mine. That's what he wanted anyways. Instead, I smiled back at him. "Hey Con, meet me at my cabin tonight so I can tell you the plan for Capture the Flag."

He smirked. "Are you sure that's the only reason you want me to come over?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes, smiling none the less. "Yep, see ya."

I turned around and jogged over to my cabin.

Before I could though, Debbie came up to me. She was breathing heavily. "Wake up extremely early tomorrow, we need to talk." Then she ran back off to her cabin.

I was confused, but I let it slide. She'd explain it later.

I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes. Before I knew it, I was asleep.

I woke up 20 minutes later to the feeling of somebody brushing my hair out of my face. My eyes fluttered open and I saw Connor sitting on the edge of my bed.

He flushed red and I got up.

"Where'd everyone go?" I asked.

"To the campfire. I came after they all left." He replied.

Oh. My face began to grow hot. We were alone in a cabin…

He seemed to realize that too because his face turned even more red. He cleared his throat. "Um, so… Capture the Flag?"

I nodded. "Right. Uh, here's the plan."

After about half an hour, the plans were complete. Connor slipped out of my cabin unnoticed before my siblings came back.

I pretended to be sleeping when I heard the door open.

"Wisdom and war are two of the most powerful; if they combined, the world had better watch out." I heard one of my siblings say.

I fell asleep to those words.

I woke up around four AM. Quickly but quietly, I snuck out of my cabin and over to Debbie's.

Just as I was about to knock, the door creaked open and Debbie slipped out silently into the cool air.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Remember my dream, with Hypnos? Didn't we say when another clue comes along we'd talk about it? We found out I'm a daughter of Ares…" She replied.

I looked over at her for a moment, then hauled her to my cabin. Making sure the rest of my siblings were still sleeping, I went over to my desk and took a scroll off one of the shelves next to it.

I stared intently at the scroll, and started drawing a few diagrams and notes.

I handed it to Debbie and she looked at it. I took it back after a little bit and looked at her, trying to gauge her expression.

"I think we might have to show Chiron now," she said.

I nodded and we ran over to the big house.

Debbie knocked on the door and then hid behind me.

Chiron opened the door and laughed. "When I said get up early for capture the flag, I didn't mean this early."

"Chiron, we have to tell you something very important." I said urgently.

He looked at us and his expression became concerned.

Using my excessive ability to talk, I explained the entire situation in about five minutes flat.

After I finished, Chiron sighed. "And, how do you know this is true?"

"Dreams," Debbie said, coming out from behind me. "You know, demigod dreams are dangerous, and true!"

He sighed and turned around and walked into the Big House.

"I want you two to come with me later. You will have to speak to the oracle, Rachel. You can speak to her after capture the flag. Now ladies, go back to sleep."

Chiron stomped away. Debbie and I went back to our cabins. I fell asleep thinking about how messed up this would end up being if we didn't fix it soon.

Two hours later, I woke up feeling refreshed. I showered and put on a pair of skinny jeans and a camp shirt that was tied in the back.

After quickly eating an energy bar, since there wasn't going to be breakfast, I ran out of my cabin to the edge of the woods.

"Nat!" Debbie exclaimed, running up to me. "Travis pushed Clarisse off the bed, I assume it was a prank, but she blamed it on me! What am I supposed to do?"

I sighed and patted her back. "Stay calm Deb. The only downside is now you're going to have to lead capture the flag."

She looked at me, her expression resembling on of pure shock. "What?"

"You have to take her place, all the other Ares campers always back out when asked to do it."

I waved bye to her and hurried off since Chiron had started the countdown.

I quickly told the plan to the others again and we set out.

I stayed back to guard the flag. I was noticeably small and light on my feet, so I could stay in the shadows and ambush the attackers.

I had sent Connor to go and capture their flag, while another group formed a diversion on the other side. With Connor were three other campers, who would cause a distraction, getting the attention of the guards. Then he would have to get the flag without being seen and sneak away.

I wasn't that worried, he was a son of Hermes and the plan had been made by a daughter of Athena. It was bound to work.

Over a little bit to the right, I heard Annabeth yell out, "Why isn't anyone here? I don't want to guard this stupid flag if there isn't going to be a fight!"

I snickered as I heard a few rustles going in their direction. We had the Hephaestus cabin on our side, so they had built us a hologram of the flag, to trick our enemies.

This was too easy… or so I thought.

"What the Hades!?" Annabeth screamed. "That's the real flag!"

My jaw dropped and I tried to grab the flag that was standing a few feet away from me. My hand went straight through it.

I screamed, "Leo, you idiot! Can't you do anything!?"

I heard cheers coming from the creek. Great, we lost…

I shoved my hands into my pocket and went to find the others. I didn't really like to wear armor during capture the flag. It was too heavy and bulky.

"Natalie!" I heard Connor say. I turned and saw him run up to me. "Hey, sorry we lost. I tried to get the flag, but Debbie saw me, and… well… ya know." He said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

I laughed. "Yea… well… I know." I said, mocking him. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

He smiled shyly at me. "Cool, so you wanna head back?"

"Yea. I actually wanted to go and find Debbie." I said.

"I think I saw her head over to the infirmary." He replied.

"Awesome! Thanks!" I smiled at him, and without thinking, gave him a peck on the cheek. "See ya!"

I turned and ran away before he could see the blush that was creeping up onto my face.

I caught up with Debbie just as she was leaving the infirmary. I gave her a hug. "Your team did it! Good job!" I said.

Suddenly, I heard loud screaming. Debbie and I looked at each other for one second, and ran towards where it was coming from.

I looked over at the forest, and saw people quickly coming out of it. The rest was in flames. Apollo campers were everywhere trying to heal the burns people had.

I saw Skylar Rocaine, Connor's half sister and Will Solace's girlfriend, run up to Will with a bunch of medical supplies in her hands. She helped try to calm the younger kids down as Will healed the burns, which had to be painful.

Leo was trying to control the flames, as Jason was flying around in the air, trying to make rain fall. I sighed. This would have been a good time to have Percy around…

Debbie walked over to me with a slightly pale, slightly panicked face.

"What happened?" I asked.

She took a breath. "M-my dad…"

My jaw dropped. "Oh shit…"

We both looked over at Chiron, who slightly nodded at us.

It was time to see the oracle.

I ran through the blazing woods, avoiding the flames and ignoring the sting in my eyes from the smoke. We burst out into a clearing that wasn't on fire, also known as Rachel's cave.

We ran inside. Rachel spun around and smiled when she realized it was us. "Hey guys, what's up?"

I replied calmly, "Oh, you know, the woods are on fire, and we need a prophecy now…"

Her jaw dropped. "Oh my gods…"

She closed her eyes and after a few seconds, started to glow. "Approach seeker, and ask." The voice of the oracle said.

"What the Hades do we do?" I said.

Her eyes turned sickly green and she with a raspy voice she said.

_The gods of war shall attack,_

_And three half bloods will be taken aback._

_They will find another on the way there,_

_The journey shall bring a load of despair._

_To find the traitor, the god of sleep,_

_They must break the watch and make the final leap._

**AN: Ta daaa! What do you think? Peace!**

**~Nessa**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thank you for the reviews! You guys rock! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO**

PLEASE READ: So for the last chapter, I know Capture the Flag is at night. So just pretend that this was a special one for some random reason (it was the last CtF before the war with Gaea), and they were supposed to get up early to train for it. So right now, it's like 8:30 in the night on a Friday in the middle of June.

Debbie POV

I didn't know what to do after I witnessed that. I was definitely afraid when that green mist came out. I wondered where Rachel's spirit went.

When Rachel came back to her mostly normal self, she looked us straight in the eye.

I shivered. Her presence made the air feel awkward.

"Uh, thanks Rach." Natalie stuttered. She then proceeded to drag me out of the cave.

"W-what was that?" I asked.

"Our prophecy. I've never experienced one up close before…" she muttered, more likely to herself than to me. She looked up. "Come on. We have to go."

We sprinted towards the big house, through the burning trees.

We crashed into the Big House and saw Chiron and Connor already there.

"Connor!" Nat sighed. "Thank the gods you're ok."

They turned to look at me. "So what was it?" Chiron asked, referring to the prophecy.

Connor looked at the three of us with a confused look on his face. He looked at Natalie, and it seemed as if an understanding passed through them.

I told Chiron the prophecy and he frowned.

"There isn't time to call the other campers. Connor will have to go, while the others focus on the fire." Chiron said.

Natalie's face started to turn bright red. "Um… ok." She said.

I smiled at Chiron.

"Let's go pack." Connor said, without a single emotion on his face, which was unusual for the Hermes child. At least from what I knew…

We headed to our cabins to prepare quickly.

I gathered some medical supplies, an extra pair of clothes, nectar, ambrosia, and attached Crystal, my weapon, to my side.

I headed out and trailed back to the pavilion, where the others were waiting.

When I got there, I saw Natalie and Connor hugging. He whispered something in her ear.

I cleared my throat and the two pulled apart as if they'd been electrocuted.

I looked at Natalie, her face slowly turning red. She was wearing black skinny jeans with a gray long sleeved shirt on top, with the words New York across the front. She had a gray beanie on as well, and black vans. She looked like any average New Yorker.

"Deb!" Natalie exclaimed. "Um… We're ready to go. You?"

I nodded.

"Ok then. Let's go." Connor said.

We ran up the hill to Thalia's pine. Natalie and Connor looked back, a scared look on their faces. Natalie looked as if she were about to cry.

We crossed the border and started walking down the hill. It was colder out here, even though it was the middle of June.

I breathed in the cold air. "Which way should we go?"

Connor and I both looked at Natalie. She rolled her eyes before thinking. "First things first, we _need_ to talk to the gods. They obviously have realized by now that their two war gods have disappeared. We'll need to rescue them before the summer solstice. I've done some research on the Romans. Their Feast of Fortuna is three days after the solstice. And judging by the current situation, we have to rescue them so they can help prepare for the war with Gaea. So in order to talk to the gods…" she trailed off.

"We have to go to Mount Olympus." Connor finished.

"What? How are we supposed to know where that is? It could be anywhere! You guys should've asked Chiron!" I sighed.

"Debbie freaking Aloia! Everything's fine, we can do this. We just have to stay determined and focus. Now I don't have time to explain the entire story, but Olympus is on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building." Natalie said.

We took one last long look at Camp Half-Blood. A tear actually fell down Natalie's face. I didn't really have the same reaction, but I understood why. This was her home; it had been for the past seven years. Now she had to leave, with absolutely no guarantee of making it back.

Connor gave her a hug and said, "Hey, it's gonna be ok. Remember what I told you earlier."

She nodded and the three of us kept walking, with me a little bit ahead of them.

We managed to walk a few miles without any trouble. We decided to stop and rest for a moment right before the rural land turned urban.

I looked at Natalie, and she motioned that we should make camp here. It was nice open spot, covered by trees so no mortals could see.

I fumbled through my items, when I heard a screeching voice behind me. "Harpies!" I shrieked. I'd heard some harpies were evil, some were kind.

Unfortunately, I don't think these were the kind ones.

"Take cover!" I heard Connor yell.

I stumbled and hid in the bush. I took Crystal out and slashed one of their wings with my sword when they passed by. One harpy clawed my arm.

I doubled over in pain; I'd never actually experienced it before. My definition of it would be a tiny cut on the arm, or a broken leg. But this? This was a LOT different.

My arm felt like it was burning. I threw my sword down and touched the blood. My eyes filled with horror.

Eventually, the screeching stopped. I looked over at Natalie and Connor, they had a few wounds, but not as bad as this gushing cut on my arm.

"Here, eat this," Connor said. I immediately recognized it as ambrosia. We only had 3 squares, one for each of us. I didn't want to waste it on me.

"No thanks," I said. Natalie looked worried, but I shook it off. It still burned, but I couldn't risk wasting our medicine.

We put up camp, and I took the first watch. All in all, it was pretty boring, but it gave me a chance to think about how much my life had changed in the past few days.

I spied for any more survivor harpies, but thankfully there were none. Grabbing my backpack, I started digging through our supplies to look for food, since I was starving. I found a granola bar and scarfed it down.

I looked back at the calmly sleeping Natalie and Connor, both his arms around her shivering figure.

My eyelids began to feel heavy, but I forced myself to stay awake.

Just as I was about to drop from complete exhaustion, a humongous shadow jumped out at me.

**AN: Sorry for the wait! Hope you enjoyed the chapter :) Peace!**

**~Nessa**


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